Non-Intrusive Digital Subscriber Line Transmit Adjustment Method

1. A first device for communicating over a digital-subscriber-line (DSL) link, comprising: a digital-subscriber-line transceiver to transmit and receive data over the DSL link, wherein a set of one or more performance parameters are associated with the DSL link by which the quality of the DSL link can be determined; and a controller coupled to the digital-subscriber-line transceiver, wherein the controller causes a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed by the digital-subscriber-line transceiver while DSL service is being provided over the DSL link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the DSL link; wherein the first device communicates with a second device over the DSL link, wherein the controller causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed by the digital-subscriber-line transceiver in response to a request transmitted from a third device; and wherein the third device comprises a management client executing a management application, wherein a management server running on the first device is responsive to the management client.

2. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the controller causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed by the digital-subscriber-line transceiver in response to a request transmitted from a second device.

3. The first device of claim 2 , wherein the request is transmitted from the second device over the DSL link.

4. The first device of claim 3 , wherein the controller communicates to the second device, over the DSL link, whether the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation was successfully performed by the first device.

5. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the third device monitors the DSL link performance parameters and causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed by the digital-subscriber-line transceiver in response to such monitoring.

6. The first device of claim 5 , wherein the first device communicates DSL link performance parameters to the third device, wherein the third device monitors the DSL link using the DSL link performance parameters.

7. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises at least one of: reducing the transmit power of the digital-subscriber-line transceiver, increasing the transmit power of the digital-subscriber-line transceiver, and updating precoder coefficients used by the digital-subscriber-line transceiver.

8. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the controller monitors the DSL link performance parameters and causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed by the digital-subscriber-line transceiver in response to such monitoring.

9. A method comprising: monitoring at least one performance parameter of a digital-subscriber-line link; determining when a predetermined performance condition for the digital-subscriber-line link exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for the digital-subscriber-line link, performing a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation at a transceiver that communicates over the digital subscriber-line link while digital-subscriber-line service is being provided over the digital-subscriber-line link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the digital-subscriber-line link; wherein the at least one performance parameter of the digital-subscriber-line link is monitored by at least one of the first device, the second device, and a device other than the first and second devices; and wherein the device other than the first and second devices comprises a management client executing a management application, wherein a management server running on the first and/or second device is responsive to the management client.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises at least one of: adjusting the transmit power of the transceiver and updating precoder coefficients of the transceiver.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein a first device and a second device communicate over the digital-subscriber-line link.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first device comprises at least one of a digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit and a doubler.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the second device comprises at least one of a digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit and a doubler.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein when the predetermined performance condition for the digital-subscriber-line link exists is determined by at least one of the first device, the second device, and a device other than the first and second devices.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the device other than the first and second devices comprises a management client executing a management application, wherein a management server running on the first and/or second device is responsive to the management client.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transceiver is located in one of the first device, the second device, and a device other than the first and second devices.

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein the performance parameter is based on at least one of a cyclic redundancy check related to the DSL link, a loss of sync word related to the DSL link, loop attenuation of the DSL link, and a signal-to-noise ratio margin.

18. The method of claim 9 , wherein the performance parameter is based on line conditions not directly associated with the DSL link performance, including: crosstalk measurements; line impedance measurements; foreign voltage measurements; AC power influence measurements; and transient event measurements.

19. A method comprising: monitoring at least one performance parameter of a digital-subscriber-line link; determining when a predetermined performance condition for the digital-subscriber-line link exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for the digital-subscriber-line link, performing a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation at a transceiver that communicates over the digital subscriber-line link while digital-subscriber-line service is being provided over the digital-subscriber-line link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the digital-subscriber-line link; wherein the at least one performance parameter of the digital-subscriber-line link comprises a signal-to-noise ratio margin of the digital-subscriber-line link; wherein determining when the predetermined performance condition for the digital-subscriber-line link exists comprises determining if the signal-to-noise ratio margin of the digital-subscriber-line link is below a minimum signal-to-noise rate margin threshold; and wherein performing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises: determining if a transmit power of a transceiver that communicates over the digital-subscriber-line link can be increased; if the transmit power of the transceiver can be increased, increasing the transmit power of the transceiver; and if the transmit power of the transceiver can not be increased, performing a non-intrusive retraining operation at the transceiver.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein performing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises repeatedly performing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation until the signal-to-noise ratio margin of the high-speed DSL link improves or until the non-intrusive retraining operation has been performed a predetermined number of times.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising performing a full retrain at the high-speed digital-subscriber-line transceiver when the non-intrusive retraining operation is unsuccessful.

22. A method comprising: monitoring at least one performance parameter of a digital-subscriber-line link; determining when a predetermined performance condition for the digital-subscriber-line link exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for the digital-subscriber-line link, performing a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation at a transceiver that communicates over the digital subscriber-line link while digital- subscriber-line service is being provided over the digital-subscriber-line link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the digital-subscriber-line link; wherein the at least one performance parameter of the digital-subscriber-line link comprises an errored seconds count of the digital-subscriber-line link; wherein determining when the predetermined performance condition for the digital-subscriber-line link exists comprises determining if the errored second count of the digital-subscriber-line link exceeds an errored second threshold; and wherein performing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises: determining if a transmit power of a transceiver that communicates over the digital-subscriber-line link can be increased; if the transmit power of the transceiver can be increased, increasing the transmit power of the transceiver; and if the transmit power of the transceiver can not be increased, performing a non-intrusive retraining operation at the transceiver.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein performing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises repeatedly performing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation until the errored seconds (ES) count of the high-speed DSL link improves or until the non-intrusive retraining operation has been performed a predetermined number of times.

24. The method of claim 22 , further comprising performing a full retrain at the high-speed digital-subscriber-line transceiver when the non-intrusive retraining operation is unsuccessful.

25. A first device for communicating over a digital-subscriber-line (DSL) link, comprising: a digital-subscriber-line transceiver to transmit and receive data over the DSL link; and a controller coupled to the digital-subscriber-line transceiver, wherein the controller: monitors at least one performance parameter of the DSL link; determines when a predetermined performance condition exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists, causes a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed while DSL service is being provided over the DSL link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the DSL link; wherein the DSL link comprises a high-speed, symmetric DSL link; wherein a high-speed digital-subscriber-line 4 (HDSL4) circuit is provisioned using two DSL links, wherein the controller: monitors the at least one performance parameter for each of the for each of the DSL links; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links, causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed for the respective DSL link.

26. The device of claim 25 , wherein the device comprises at least one of a digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit and a doubler.

27. The device of claim 25 , wherein the performance parameter is based on at least one of a cyclic redundancy check related to the DSL link, a loss of sync word related to the DSL link, loop attenuation of the DSL link, and a signal-to-noise ratio margin.

28. The device of claim 25 , wherein the performance parameter is based on line conditions not directly associated with the DSL link performance, including: crosstalk measurements; line impedance measurements; foreign voltage measurements; AC power influence measurements; and transient event measurements.

29. The device of claim 25 , wherein causing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed when the predetermined performance condition exists comprises causing the device to perform the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation.

30. The device of claim 25 , wherein causing the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed when the predetermined performance condition exists comprises sending a message to a second device requesting that the second device perform the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation.

31. The device of claim 25 , wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises updating precoder coefficients of a transceiver.

32. The device of claim 25 , wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation comprises adjusting the transmit power of a transmitter.

33. The device of claim 25 , wherein the DSL link comprises a high-speed digital-subscriber-line 2 (HDSL2) link.

34. A first device for communicating over a digital-subscriber-line (DSL) link, comprising: a digital-subscriber-line transceiver to transmit and receive data over the DSL link; and a controller coupled to the digital-subscriber-line transceiver, wherein the controller: monitors at least one performance parameter of the DSL link; determines when a predetermined performance condition exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists, causes a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed while DSL service is being provided over the DSL link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the DSL link; wherein the DSL link comprises a high-speed, symmetric DSL link; wherein a symmetric SHDSL circuit is provisioned using one or more DSL links, wherein the controller: monitors the at least one performance parameter for each of the DSL links; determines when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links, causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed for the respective DSL link.

35. The device of claim 25 , wherein the DSL link comprises a high-speed, symmetric or assymetric DSL link.

36. The device of claim 35 , wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is limited to a transmit power adjustment.

37. A first device for communicating over a digital-subscriber-line (DSL) link, comprising: a digital-subscriber-line transceiver to transmit and receive data over the DSL link; and a controller coupled to the digital-subscriber-line transceiver, wherein the controller: monitors at least one performance parameter of the DSL link; determines when a predetermined performance condition exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists, causes a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed while DSL service is being provided over the DSL link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the DSL link; wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is limited to a transmit power adjustment wherein an ADSL (including ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+, and other ADSL variants) circuit is provisioned using one or more DSL links, wherein the controller: monitors the at least one performance parameter for each of the DSL links; determines when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links, causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed for the respective DSL link.

38. A first device for communicating over a digital-subscriber-line (DSL) link, comprising: a digital-subscriber-line transceiver to transmit and receive data over the DSL link, and a controller coupled to the digital-subscriber-line transceiver, wherein the controller: monitors at least one performance parameter of the DSL link; determines when a predetermined performance condition exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists, causes a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed while DSL service is being provided over the DSL link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the DSL link; wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is limited to a transmit power adjustment; wherein a VDSL (including VDSL, VDSL2, and other VDSL variants) circuit is provisioned using one or more DSL links, wherein the controller: monitors the at least one performance parameter for each of the DSL links; determines when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links, causes the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation to be performed for the respective DSL link.

39. A method, comprising: initially training two digital-subscriber-line (DSL) links over which a first device and a second device communicate, wherein a high-speed digital-subscriber-line 4 (HDSL4) circuit is provisioned using the two DSL links; after training the DSL links: monitoring at least one performance parameter for each of the DSL links; determining when a predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and when the predetermined performance condition exists for each of the DSL links, non-intrusively adjusting a transmit parameter of at least one of the first device and the second device while DSL service is being provided over the DSL links, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the DSL links.

40. The method of claim 39 , wherein the first device comprises a first digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit, wherein the second device comprises a second digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit.

41. The method of claim 39 , wherein the at least one performance parameter of the DSL link is monitored by the first device and wherein the first device determines when the predetermined performance condition exists, and the second device non-intrusively adjusts the transmit parameter of the second device.

42. The method of claim 41 , wherein the first device comprises one of a central office high-speed digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit, a remote terminal high-speed digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit, and a doubler.

43. The method of claim 41 , wherein the second device comprises one of a central office high-speed digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit, a remote terminal high-speed digital-subscriber-line transceiver unit, and a doubler.

44. The method of claim 43 , wherein the DSL link comprises a high-speed, symmetrical DSL link.

45. The device of claim 43 , wherein the DSL link comprises a high-speed, symmetric or assymetric DSL link.

46. The device of claim 45 , wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is limited to a transmit power adjustment.

47. Apparatus comprising: means for monitoring at least one performance parameter of a digital-subscriber-line link; means for determining when a predetermined performance condition for the digital-subscriber-line link exists, wherein the predetermined performance condition is a function of the at least one performance parameter; and means for, when the predetermined performance condition exists for the digital-subscriber-line link exists, performing a non-intrusive transmitter adjustment operation at a transceiver that communicates over the digital subscriber-line link while digital subscriber-line service is being provided over the digital subscriber-line link, wherein the non-intrusive transmitter adjustment is non-intrusive with respect to the digital subscriber-line link; wherein the at least one performance parameter of the digital-subscriber-line link is monitored by at least one of the first device, the second device, and a device other than the first and second devices; and wherein the device other than the first and second devices comprises a management client executing a management application, wherein a management server running on the first and/or second device is responsive to the management client.